Book/Report

Kaiser Family Foundation, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; September 2006.

This survey follows up on a prior study from 2004, asking patients about their perceptions of health care quality and medical errors. The study found minimal change since 2004 in overall impression of US health care quality, with approximately half of respondents stating they are "dissatisfied" with quality, particularly with coordination of care. More patients are aware of information comparing the quality of hospitals, health care plans, or providers, but only a small minority report using this information to make health care decisions. A large proportion of patients reported taking recommended actions to improve safety, such as bringing a list of their medications to appointments or following up on test or procedure results. As found in other studies, survey respondents overwhelmingly expressed support for full, mandatory disclosure of all preventable errors, and two-thirds felt errors should be publicly reported.